Nesting Place Paint Colors & A Linky For Your Paint Colors

One of the most common questions I get asked are about my paint colors. And while I am very open with giving out any and all colors~I’ve mentioned them all multiple times, I’m not very organized about it. So, I thought I’d list them all here in one spot. I know how obsessed I get over choosing the right color for each room. It’s such a pain to waste money and time picking wrong colors. But sometimes, picking the wrong colors is the best way to find the right color.

foyer: Sherwin Williams Rice Grain, see how it looks with the office colors and here on the far left you can see the sitting room color, they all work well together

You can see a small wall of this blue gray in the photo of the foyer up there. This room is supposedly the dining room. It has picture frame molding under the chair rail so the color is only on the top half and even then it really only has one full wall and then a wall with a window, a tiny wall up against the open foyer and a small wall to the open stair case. So even though we are renting, I felt ok painting it a non neutral color because I can paint over it in about an hour if I ever need to. My sister used Oyster Bay {oh and this is the post where I talk about my beloved Tobacco Road that won’t work in our current home} in her home years ago and I loved the color but wanted it a little lighter so I just went one color up on the paint card. A small room is a great choice to add a little color.

Behr Village Square

In my office, since the bottom was white board and batten, I wanted something darker for the top. I knew I wanted greens and blues in our house so going with a darkish/khaki/brown/hint of green undertone was a nice choice for a dark neutral.

Favorite Tan

Our family room is Sherwin Williams Favorite Tan, two shades darker than the foyer. But the color changes depending on the weather and time of day…

And just to make things complicated, our stairwell is Sherwin Williams Ramie. It’s the color in between Rice Grain {our foyer} and Favorite Tan {family room}. My husband rigged up all of our neighbors ladders and extra wood and small children so he could paint it himself.

I also painted our kitchen and breakfast area Benjamin Moore Simply White 2140-70 {color matched}. Believe it or not, this was the color I agonized over the most. I wanted a true white, not something with a hint of yellow or blue or pink. I did lots of online research googling words like “the perfect white paint” and searching blogs who specialize in pretty white walls. Most people wouldn’t even notice that I painted this part of the house. The before paint was “white” to the average person, but to me it was pink, see that arrow up there, I still need to finish painting but, you can see the colors side by side.

For the sideboard and our table, one day I just got fed up with worrying about what color to paint my furniture so I grabbed the leftover, eggshell wall paint from our family room and painted some furniture with it. I let it dry and then mixed up some leftover Comfort gray with some turquoise craft paint to get a pretty blue for the edges of the hutch. Then, to seal the table top, I followed Mandie’s advice in her ebook. It was fast, inexpensive, we use the table every day and it’s holding up perfectly. And I don’t even have perfect as a goal, good enough would have been fine, but the table top still looks like the day I painted it. Here’s more information about how I painted my furniture and the ebook.

Halcyon Green

Another color you will see in my home is Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green. I bought a can and used it for my armiore, shutters and even this dresser. Ideally, I’d like my pieces to all be a little different version of this color {which is basically a dirty robin’s egg blue, it doesn’t seem green to me at all}. Sometimes I’ll mix in a little of another color if I’m painting a frame or something small, just to give it a slightly different hue so things are so matchy matchy. Need more photos of painted pieces I love?

Everyone’s computer monitor is different, the color I see on my screen is not the same as what you see on yours which is probably not the same as what the paint looks like on my wall which is probably not the same as what the paint will look like on YOUR wall.

However, I do think there is value in looking at paint colors online. It gives you a starting point. Once you find some colors you like, do a google image search. For example, if you think you like Comfort Gray, search “Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray” and then on the right side, click on google images.

Oh, look, two of those images are from my house, that is helpful too because you can see the exact same paint in the exact same room in different times of day {the top image third from the left and bottom row, second from the left are both the same wall in my house}. Be sure to search any color you are considering so you can see how it looks in different houses.

Once you settle on a few choices, get a sample of the color. Even if it means you have to buy a quart, this is less expensive in the long run than buying a few gallons that don’t work out. Paint the color on some poster board and use painters tape rolled on the back, or a few tacks to attach it to the wall. You can move the poster board around to different parts of the room. Or, if you are like me, just paint patches on the wall being sure not to put the paint on to thick so people will forever see where you tested.

I think this is a great time for a linky, because I know how desperate I was to see photos of paint colors from people I trusted when I was making paint decisions. If you have a post about your paint colors, feel free to link up. I’ll leave the linky open for a week if you want to work up a post.

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Comments

Love your colors!! I am sure I would be using similar colors if I were not living in the stark creamy all white rental. My husband is in the military so we were not sure how long we would be here. We knew that if we painted we would have to paint it all back and didn’t want to mess with it. I am at the point now where I want to mess with it but now we hanging in limbo more so than usual and could be leaving very soon. We did paint our son’s nursery though because it was our first baby and I wanted his room to be perfect!! I look forward to having a more permanent house so I can paint every room the way I want it one day soon.

Just last week I was scouring your blog for paint colour ideas! I love all your colours, and I’ve decided to paint the walls neutral like you did to let me play with colour a bit more. I’m going with “Packing Nut” from General Paint.

I just LOVE your colors. They are beautiful, relaxing, and peaceful! It just amazes me because my sofa is tan and I always think of this as a ‘warm’ color, but the way you used the light blue is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I would never think to use that color. Is tan a warm or a neutral??? Anyhoo….. your rooms are breathtaking!

That is too funny! I painted pretty much all the main living areas in my house Rice Grain!! All of my friends and family LOVE it and always ask for the name of it! Now my mom has her family and kitchen painted in it!

All of your paint colors are wonderful. I’m in the process of changing the majority of my walls in most of the main floor of my home! It took me 6 quart samples to finally choose one to paint over our red dining room wall paint! Since the red was going to take several coats to cover(because we chose a light grey), we mixed 5 of the samples together and used it as the base coat. The mixed up color was actually fabulous and hated to paint over it! We might use the leftover mixed up paint in our laundry room because we love it so much!
You are definitely right about how paint looks different in other peoples homes, or even in different rooms.

I am always looking for new paint colors. I love the Behr Village Square you have. Gorgeous! I hate the main color in our home. I had to make a quick decision without sampling first, and now I feel stuck with a color I dont like in most of my home. Thanks for having a linky party!

I thought I was the only one who collected paint chips! I have a whole drawer of my favorites. Seriously, though, it seems that most people have white trim, and that would have been my first choice, but the builder went with a cream and all our molding, doors, trim, etc. are a cream. How well do your favorite colors go with trim that’s not white?

I love the way you made the colors of your home flow perfectly throughout. Repeating from room to room. The colors you chose are warm and earthy yet with a splash of vibrant color. The hutch caught my eye… beautiful!! It looks great that you incorporated your colors into the furniture, also.

Loved your colors so muc I ran out and got the wall color last weekend. Cant wait til I have to repaint! Do you remember where you purchased your blue and white (floral) rug? It’s wonderful too! Thank you so much. :)

I am so happy you posted this! I have been scouring your blog ever since we went under contract to buy our home. This was so helpful. Can I ask where you got that beautiful blue rug with the white flowers? Your entire home is so lovely,.

I love the colors in your home…at least the shades I see on my screen. :) We moved into a new construction house about 7 months ago and everything is still tan and very bare. All the walls, and floors, with white trim. It gives me hope that I can use those beautiful greens to lighten up the place! You’ve got a gift for decorating…thanks for sharing all about it and helping me with a starting place on getting this place decorated! ~Blessings

What a great post and just in time for me. I’m painting my bedroom this weekend and trying to decide on colors. I’m thinking a light gray. I can only hope it looks as great as your rooms. Decorating is not as easy as you make it seem. You’re great at it. :)

I have the same dilema as you, Courtney. We are in a long-term rental with LOTS of orangey-oak trim, 6-panel doors, and cabinetry. While we have freedom to paint walls, the woodwork is off-limits. I have SEARCHED on-line and scoured blogs for pictures/ ideas of how I can work with it. I would love to re-created the “look”/ “feel” that the nester has, but under these restrictions. I’m not finding ANY inspiration out there for peeps like me. These color choices just don’t have the same feel when put next to my oak trim. I did rice grain in the main living area, and comfort grey in the kitchen, but it’s really just not working. Now, I just don’t know which direction to go. I have gotten creative, trying to find other ways to work around the trim by covering some of it up with strategically placed window “mis-treatments”, but still struggling. I’d love to know what you decide to do!

Perfect timing for this post! We’re getting ready to start in on our master bedroom… it’s such a nightmare. We’re talking 50 year old wallpaper, complete with 70 something dark wood trim and doors and dare I say it… panneling, all different kinds of panneling… nightmares. Besides a sledge hammer I’m trying to figure what to do with it all… and what colors… no clue… but your ideas do give me a starting point… You don’t offer any counseling and therapy for us missing a sense of style do ya? lol. Thanks for all you do here!

LOVE seeing all the colors and how the “pathways” lead you from room2room! Thank you for the “pix with a view”,tho I also appreciate specific pix.I am an unabashed colorholic-this time around,am definitely going dramatic with paint colors.I want to show off momma’s treasures(woods&glassware),so I have been studying color&light for two years.I’m close to buying samples and start painting “chunx” where the light changes.My best purchase was the House Beautiful 500+ Favorite Paint Colors “bookazine” that came out last winter&was racked till August.Very diffrt designers pickd their faves by color,type of room,type of light,type of color(nature,bold,neutral,etc),and listed tons of mfg’rs colors,no special treatment.And I could fold over pages to compare shades&check accent shades and even had pro-painter tips.Worth $10!It is funny tho-thot the combos would flip people out,but the HB DEC/JAN trends? Mine! :D

thanks for posting your colors, I have long admired them! Also, a late thank you for your board and batten tutorial/posting. We did it in out back hallway and bath and I love it! Can I ask you a question about the molding over your double doors, in that picture behind where your husband is holding one of the battens- did you convert that from the usual mitered door frame to that stacked look on top? I don’t have a name for it but I have been thinking of doing the same for a while. Might you be able to post or email instructions on that if you did it yourself? thank you!
Nancy